


Straight From the Heart

by Faith280



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: M/M, Mentions of drug addiction and child neglect
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-22 15:00:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 10,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17664734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Faith280/pseuds/Faith280
Summary: Life for Washington and Tucker is going great. That’s what has Wash worried, he’s paranoid something will happen. So when Tucker gets strange phone calls from his ex, Wash thinks the worst.On a pleasant surprise, Wash will see what lengths Tucker will go through to protect one of his kids.





	1. 1

 

Agent Washington sat at the kitchen table, lost in his thoughts. Something wasn’t right, he could feel it. Years of combat had made him uneasy; more like paranoid. He had a great life together with his boyfriend, Tucker, for the first time, he was truly happy.

  
No one was more surprised than Wash when Tucker first admitted he was in love with him. Tucker had a wild past with women, he loved them too much.

Wash never expected the relationship to last, but now almost two years later, they were deeply in love. Wash could finally relax. Then the phone calls started.

  
Tucker got strange cell phone calls at all hours of the day. At first, Wash didn’t notice. But when he got one of the calls in the middle of dinner, he couldn’t hide it from Wash. He actually looked spooked when he came back to the table.

  
“Who was that?” Wash asked carefully. He didn’t want to make a problem if there really wasn’t one.

  
“It was a wrong number.”

He was a terrible liar, it showed in his eyes, he couldn’t help it. Wash frowned and let the lie pass.

  
“You look kind of disturbed for a wrong number.”

  
“No, not at all. It’s just that they keep calling my number, like why couldn’t they get the hint by now.” He gave a lame chuckle. He picked at his fried chicken without really eating it.

  
Wash’s critical frown deepened. Tucker squirmed uncomfortably in his chair. Wash always knew how to get him to talk, and Tucker knew it.

  
“Well, I’m stuffed, you did such a good job on dinner . How about if I clean up these dishes for you, it’s only fair.”

  
Yeah, he was definitely hiding something. “Hang on, I’ll give you a hand.”

  
“No thanks, I got it. Sit and relax.”

  
‘This has to be major, he never volunteers to clean unless I threaten him.’

  
Tucker left his phone at the table. Wash checked the recent contacts. The call was from a Heather. Interesting, all the the wrong numbers were from her. Guess that’s his new replacement. Why didn’t he just tell the truth?

  
He set the phone back down right before Tucker came in. “I’m bushed, how about we get to bed, monsieur?” He gave Wash his incredible smile and reached out to take his arm.

  
Normally, Wash would melt to that smile in a second, but now…it broke his heart to think he was losing him.

  
“I will soon, I need to finish a few things.”

  
Tucker’s smile faded, it always worked. “Okay, hurry in, I’ll be waiting for you.”

  
He looked back at Wash as he turned the corner to the bedroom. He was still sitting at the table, he was staring at the wall. That’s weird, he didn’t look busy.

  
“I hope he’s not mad at me for taking the call during dinner. He’s strict about mealtimes being family time. It’s not like I had a choice. God I wish I could tell him, I need his help so much, but I can’t.”

  
Tucker got ready for bed, and There was still no Wash. “That’s strange, he’ll be in any minute.”

  
An hour passed before Wash could find the courage to face Tucker again. He lucked out, Tucker was already asleep, snoring softly, looking so angelic when his childish mouth didn’t screw it up for him.

  
He climbed in bed, smoothed back a few strands of his black hair that was covering his face. He gave his cheek a gentle caress before trying to fall asleep.

This guy was special, it was going to be hard to lose him. Wash was used to it by now. Everyone left eventually, that was how life worked out.

  
At some point, he dozed off. Something woke him up, for once it wasn’t a nightmare. Tucker’s side of the bed was empty. It was 2am, where would he go to? Wash had to investigate.

  
The light was on in the bathroom, he found Tucker sitting in the middle of the floor crying. He had the phone clenched tightly in his hand.

  
Wash knelt down by his side. “What’s wrong babe, are you sick or hurt? Come on, answer me.” He put his arms around him and held him close.

  
Tucker cried harder. “I can’t tell you, that’s the whole point.”

  
“Huh, you’re not making sense. You can tell me anything, you know that. Come on, you’ll feel better. Does this have to do with the mysterious ‘Heather’?”

  
He stopped crying and looked at Wash. “How the hell do you know about her?”

  
“Well brainiac, don’t leave your phone alone and set it where I can see it. It wasn’t rocket science you know.”

  
“How could you spy on me like that?”

  
“I bust you not only lying but also cheating on me, and you’re mad at me over a phone? No, you’re not allowed.”

  
“Huh? Okay, I confess I lied to you about the calls, I admit to that. I never, never, never, ever, cheated on you. I never would.”

  
Wash let out a sigh of relief. Tucker was a horrible liar, but he tells the truth perfectly. He was being serious.

  
“All right, let’s get off this cold floor.” He helped Tucker stand and grabbed him a few tissues. “Now, get yourself cleaned up and come back to the bedroom. How about you stop lying and tell me the truth.”

  
“Aww Wash, I feel so stupid, this is one thing you can’t fix, it’s all my fault.”

  
It’s all my fault someone innocent is going to get hurt. Some hero I turned out to be.

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

Tucker made his way to sit on the bed beside Wash, being careful to not make eye contact. He was in no hurry to start his explanations.

  
Wash sighed, he would have to start this. “Okay, start out by telling me who this girl is.”

  
He kept his eyes glued to the floor. “So, remember back to the Temple purge, and we all partied too hard? She was one of the girls I slept with. We had a daughter, Chloe, together. I’ve been paying her and the other mothers child support ever since. Now she starts phoning me that she needs more money. I don’t even know how she got my number.”

  
“Legally there has to something you can do to protect yourself against this.”

  
“Probably, that’s not even what I’m worried about. If I don’t give $200 extra, she’s gonna hurt the kid. I didn’t believe it at first. But just now, I could hear her crying in the background.” He lost it and started crying again.

  
Wash held onto him, not sure how to help him, but he was there for him. No matter what.

  
“Wash, I don’t know what to do. I can’t leave her there. Ever since I gave birth to Junior, there’s an almost protective maternal instinct here. I have to save her. I may not even know her, but she’s mine, and I love her just the same.”

  
“Okay, Okay, first off, calm down. We’re on this case together now, I got your back, we will figure this out. Chloe will be fine.”

  
Tucker’s tears slowed to a low sniffle. “You really thinks so?”

  
“Sure, this woman is a coward using her own child to get what she wants. Odds are, she won’t put her in any real danger, but she wants you to think that.”

  
He helped Tucker to lie back down and he covered him over with the sheet.

  
“Later today, I’ll go to Kimball and see what we can legally do. At least we can bust her her for neglect or child endangerment. It’s Heather… what?”

  
“Huh?”

  
“I assume she has a last name, what is it?”

  
Tucker gave him a blank look. “It was a one night stand, I never got her last name. All I remembered was Heather.”

  
“Great, now I have to go to Kimball and ask her how many women named Heather are living on Chorus. It’s only a common name, it shouldn’t take long.”

  
“Sorry hon, I honestly never expected this to come up.”

  
“I know, it’s weirdly not your fault, even though it should be. I don’t know how you manage it. Don’t worry, I’ll figure something out.”

  
Tucker wanted to look more encouraged. “We don’t even where she is.”

  
“You still have the phone messages. Maybe a certain computer hacker we work with can trace the signal. I don’t know how that works.”

  
“While you’re talking to Kimball, I’ll go visit Simmons and see what he says. He knows more about this tech than we do.”

  
“Why didn’t you want to tell me about this when her calls started?”

  
Tucker looked embarrassed.

“Because, all those one night stands happened a long time ago. I’m not the same guy that I was back then. I worked hard to prove to you that I’m not a screwup. Now the past comes up again, I feel like the same worthless Tucker.”

  
“You’re not the same person, that’s why I fell in love with you. That’s why you care about your kids like you do. You are a better person. You got to get over the past.”

  
Tucker laid his head on Wash’s chest. He reminded Wash of a child that needed protected.

He put his arms around him and held him close, almost afraid to let go of him. Soon he heard soft snoring. Tucker passed out.

  
There was no way Wash was sleeping anymore. He kept Tucker close and waited for morning.  
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

  
It was barely 8 am. Tucker showed up at the Grif-Simmons home, praying that Simmons would be awake.

He couldn’t wait any longer, he wanted to find Chloe. He pounded on the door, being as annoying as he could with it.

  
Simmons answered, still wearing his red flannel bath robe. He was trying to not spill his coffee cup as he struggled to answer the door.

  
“Tucker, what the hell…” One look at Tucker’s distressed face, yeah something happened.

  
“Simmons I really, really need your help.”

  
Simmons softened down his tone. “Okay sure, come on in. Here I’ll pour you some coffee, have a seat at the kitchen table. What’s wrong?”

  
“If I have a cell phone number, could you trace it to the location of the caller?”

  
“Why would you think I know how to trace a phone?”

  
“I dunno, you could do it with computers.”

  
“I’m sorry, but line tapping is out of my expertise. I’m a sim trooper, I’m not a spy.”

  
“Shit, I thought you could help.”

  
Grif came staggering in, still half asleep, wearing the t-shirt and shorts he fell asleep in. He grabbed some coffee and glared at Tucker.

  
“So you’re the one making all the noise this early, I should have known.”

  
“Nice to see you too moron. Now shut up, I’m trying to get your husband to help me with this. I need to find a woman named Heather. We had a kid together, now she’s blackmailing me for more money. She threatened to hurt my kid. I need to find them.”

  
Even Grif got quiet with that. Simmons looked super sincere, but what could he do?

  
“I’m sorry, I don’t know anyone by that name.” He thought for a second. “But Grif’s Sister knows everyone in Chorus. It might work.”

  
“Yeah, Kai runs the nightclub, we used to go there every night. Which one is gonna call her?”

Grif’s coffee was finally kicking in. “Why don’t you call her yourself?”

  
“She’s my ex girlfriend, it’s so awkward.”

  
Simmons nodded. “She’s kind of my ex too, sort of.”

  
Tucker rolled his eyes. “Oh please, that was sad and pathetic. Grif, she’s your sister, you call her.”

  
“I really hate both of you right now.” He dialed his phone. “Hey Kai, what’s up?”

  
She sounded hungover. “Who is this?”

  
“It’s your brother.”

  
“Which one?”

  
“Oh my god, how many brothers do you got, and how much booze did you drink last night?”

  
“Oh yeah, sorry bro, my bad. How are ya?”

  
“Terrible, I’m here with Tucker. He needed some info and we think you could help.”

  
“Okay shoot.”

  
Tucker shouted out the info to Grif, who had to tell Kai…Simmons shook his head, there was no way this would work.

  
Kai shocked them all. “Wait, I do remember a regular around here. She’s a tall blonde with fake boobs, she did mention she had a little girl. She’s totally into the drug scene down here, I’ve been sober for the last year, so I can’t judge her. I believe the last name’s Shaffer.”

  
“She’s been calling Tucker to blackmail him. How would she get his number?”

  
“Oops, that was probably me. Back when Tucker and I were a couple, she mentioned at the club how hot he was, I was drunk and slipped her his number. Sorry guys.”

  
Tucker would be pissed, but she did get the name. He’ll let it pass.

“Thanks Kai.” There I did it, now I’m going back to bed, leave me alone.”

  
“Thanks Simmons, now I need a game plan.”

  
“When you find the kid, what are you going to do with her?”

  
“Like what?”

  
“Are you going to keep her? After all this it seems a shame for her to go to someone else.”

  
“I don’t know, I didn’t think that far ahead.”

  
“You’ve been together with Wash for a while now, it’s not like you have to raise her on your own. She’d be close in age to Little Dexter, so we can trade off babysitting and play dates if you want to.”

  
Tucker thought for the first time of how scary it would be to take over as her father. That was a big step.

  
“Uh, I’ll think that over. I really need to talk about it with Wash.”  
Damn Simmons, it kept nagging at him. By the time he made it home and flopped down on the couch to wait for Wash, he knew.

He wanted to be his little girl’s father more than anything in the world.

 


	4. Chapter 4

 

Wash nervously approached Kimball’s secretary. He still wasn’t sure what to say to her, he wished he rehearsed it more. The brunette behind the desk smiled encouragingly, he can do this.

  
“Hello, Agent Washington to see President Kimball please.”

  
Her pleasant smile continued. “She has a rather full schedule planned for today, but I will let her know you’re here.”

  
“Thank you.”

  
A minute later she returned. “She’s in meeting at the moment. It shouldn’t be too much longer. Have a seat, and I’ll call you when she’s done.”

  
“All right, thank you.”

  
He settled on the end of the black leather couch in the waiting and wondered how Tucker made out. Since he was stuck here, may as well call and check in.

  
Tucker answered after the first ring. “Wash, we know who she is!”

  
“Really, how did you figure it out that fast? Wow, Simmons really is a mastermind.” He was impressed.

  
“Well yeah, Simmons did figure it out, but not like you think.”

  
“How did he do it?”

  
“We had Grif call his sister. She knew a girl that fit the description, so now we know her last name, it’s Shaffer. He was proud of himself.

  
Wash groaned. “Seriously, you guys took advice from Sister? There could be how many girls on Chorus with the name Heather, what are the odds that you found the very one?”

  
Tucker’s heart dropped. “Well… when you put it that way, it does sound kinda stupid…but I know this is the right girl. Kai said she buys drugs there and she has a daughter. What a coincidence.”

  
“Fine, just do me a favor and don’t do anything until I get back. I’m waiting to see Kimball. I want to hear her opinion before we do anything, you got it?”

  
Tucker was disappointed, this time Wash really was a buzzkill. “Yes sir.” He mumbled. He’ll have to get over it.

  
“I mean it Tucker. If you go and do something stupid, we’ll never find your little girl.”

  
“I said okay.” Doing nothing was the hardest thing he could do.

  
“Good, I’ll see you soon.” He hung up and wondered why he was surprised at the attitude.

  
“Agent Washington, President Kimball can see you now.”

  
“Oh thank goodness.”

He was buzzed through the heavy oak office doors and was face to face with Kimball. She welcomed him with a smile and a small hug.

  
“Thanks for seeing me Vanessa, this is really important to Tucker.”

  
“I’ll say it is. I owe you a lot Wash, I hope I can help. I have a good friend down at the child protection agency. I’ll give him the names and see what he can find.”

  
“Tucker wasn’t positive on her last name, it may be Shaffer, but it’s not from a reliable source.” He couldn’t help making a face.

  
“Okay, whether it’s right or wrong, we can at least check on it. If Tucker is regularly paying the child support, that means his name would show up as the biological father. If he never signed away his parental rights, he rights to see his child, so that helps the case.”

  
“The fact that she’s blackmailing him and threatening the child…”

  
“We can bust her on a misdemeanor and child endangerment. We can place the child safely in the child care system and hopefully have her placed into a loving home.”

  
“That’s great. How long until we know where she is?”

  
“Shouldn’t be very long. My friend owes me a favor, so if not later today, first thing tomorrow at the latest.”

  
“That sounds great. Tucker will be relieved, this is driving him crazy.”

  
“Uh yeah, with Tucker, if he gets any more phone calls, make sure he ignores them. It is very important to avoid all contact until she’s arrested. If she runs with the kid, we may never find her.”

  
“Great, no pressure now. Thanks for the advice, it’s hard, but I’ll make him behave.”

  
Now how the hell do I convince Tucker that’s she’s right?  
  



	5. Chapter 5

 

Wash let himself in through the back door. He found Tucker flopped down on the couch, looking lost in his thoughts. He was nowhere in the stratosphere. He never even Wash come up behind him.

  
Wash caressed his hands on Tucker’s shoulder and he jumped.

“Shit, when did you sneak in?”

  
Wash chuckled, “I was home a whole five minutes before you realized it. Not too observant.”

  
“Nah, I got a lot on my mind.”

  
“Well, here’s some more, there is to be absolutely no contact with Heather. Kimball is sending people out to deal with her, so we let them work.”

  
“So that means I get to see Chloe?”

  
Wash was taken aback. “You said you wanted her out of that house, you never said you wanted to see her.”

  
“Well, I never actually said it, but if they’re taking her away from her mother, shouldn’t I be there. It doesn’t seem right.”

  
“It might make things worse for her. She never met you, there’s no guarantee she’ll even go to you.”

  
Tucker got so quiet, he couldn’t look up at Wash. “What if I really want to see her?”

  
“Tucker, leave it alone.”

  
“No, she’s my daughter. I have to meet her.”

  
“You’re sure?”

  
He nodded.

  
“All right, when Kimball calls I’ll tell you want to meet Chloe.”

  
“What happens if I don’t just want to meet her?”

  
Wash felt his stomach drop. This was what he was afraid of happening. “What do mean?”

  
Tucker’s voice faltered. “What if I wanted to adopt her?”

  
“Tucker, be serious, you can’t take care of a kid.”

  
“Bullshit, I took care of Junior.” His eyes started tearing up.

  
“You had custody of an alien baby for three days. This is a two year old human child, there’s a big difference.”

  
“No there isn’t. They are both still my kids. I wanted to keep Junior, but I couldn’t. I don’t want to make the same mistake with Chloe.”

  
He couldn’t keep the tears from falling. He left the living room to finish his crying in the bedroom. He slammed the door behind him.  
Great, let him go pout it out.

Wash tried to block it out, this wasn’t his problem. Damnit, I can’t leave him alone. Wash knocked on the door. Tucker ignored him.

  
You got to be kidding me. “Can I come in?” Tucker still didn’t answer. “Fine, ignore me, I’m coming in any way .”Tucker didn’t lock the door, so I guess he wanted me to barge in.

  
He was laying on his side of the bed purposely not looking at Wash when he came in.

Half of his crying was real anguish, but he added in a little extra effort so Wash knew how badly he hurt him. He snuck a few looks to make sure Wash was coming to him. His crying conviently got a little bit louder when he did.

  
Wash shook his head, how was he going to win this fight? He reached over to touch Tucker’s arm. He flinched away from his touch.

  
“Tucker, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. You would make a great dad, I’m happy that you care about her that much. There is more to this than just caring, and you’re not thinking it all through.”

  
He wiped away his tears and looked at Wash. “Like what?”

  
“Like the fact that’s she’s obviously been traumatized. She might need professional help to recover. We can hardly take care of ourselves. It would be selfish to add to her problems.”

  
“I only want to help her. I’m tired of being a screwup, I wanted to do something productive with my life. I’m used to kids, I’m fine with the extra work.”

  
“You might be all right with it, but I’m not. I’m really not used to kids. Do you I count in your life too?”

  
“Aww hon, of course you do. I love you more than anything. We babysit Grif and Simmons’ son all the time.”

  
“That’s babysitting, we give him back. With Chloe, it’s forever, there’s no giving her back. You need to understand that before we rush into any decision.”

  
Tucker was quiet, Wash did have a point. “If nothing else, I can still have visitation with her?”

  
“I don’t see why not. Kimball said your name should still be listed as her father. I imagine they’d have to let you.”

  
For the first time Tucker gave a small smile. “So I can meet her?” He gave Wash a pleading look. Wash didn’t have the heart to say no.

  
“Sure, you visit her all you want.”

  
“Maybe you can see her too, maybe you will change your mind.”

  
“Don’t even think about it.”

  
“So you’re totally against all kids now?”

  
“I’m not against kids, I’m against the idea of me trying to be a father.”

  
“Why, you’d do great at it. You handled me and Caboose and didn’t kill us. Actual kids probably listen better than we did.”

  
“I’d believe that.” He shook his head. “Tucker, I’d love to raise a family with you, but you don’t understand. I’ve been to hell and back again. Emotionally, that’s no place to raise a child. I’m sorry.”

  
Tucker still wouldn’t give up on Wash. “I refuse to believe that, I seen how you recovered since you came to lead the Blue Team. There’s still hope for you.”

  
“I want to believe that Tucker, I really do.”

  
In his heart, he didn’t feel it.  
  
  
  



	6. Chapter 6

 

Tucker went into bathroom to clean the tear stains from his face. Then the panic set in.

  
“Oh my god, if they find Chloe tonight, and I get to see her, I’m not ready. I have nothing to take her.”

  
“Why do you feel you to?”

  
“Oh come on, I need to take her a toy or something. It’s our first meeting, I have to make sure she’ll like me.”

  
“Chill out, it’s not like you have to bribe her. Being there for is the most important thing you can do for her.”

  
He rolled his eyes. “Oh please, that’s so boring. I’m gonna run out real quick and see if I can get a stuffed toy or something cute to make her happy. Want to come along?”

  
“No, I should stay here in case Kimball calls.”

  
Tucker started his mad dash to try to get out the door. Wash had to laugh at him, he never changed.

  
“Calm down, you don’t even know if you’re seeing her today. You act like you’re waiting for her to be born. Don’t panic.”

  
“Yeah yeah, I know, but you don’t understand this pressure. If I don’t come back with something awesome, it’ll tarnish my perfect Dad record forever. She’ll never forgive me.”

  
“Oh lord, fine, have fun shopping.” There’s no point even trying.

  
With Tucker gone, the house was weirdly quiet. Wash settled on the couch with an apple and the newspaper and tried to not think about the phone ringing.

  
When it did ring, he grabbed it before the caller ID could even flash. He hoped it was Kimball, he was disappointed when it was only Carolina.

  
“Hey ‘Lina what’s up?”

  
“I just got finished with the surveillance on my latest mission, I thought you might be interested in it.”

  
“You know I retired from all that fun stuff. What was it?”

  
“Spying on a certain blackmailer who’s using Tucker.”

  
“No way!”

  
“Turns out little miss Heather not only uses drugs, she sells them and is into prostitution. I got enough evidence to put her away.”

  
“That’s great, but I was hoping Kimball would call me.”

  
“She asked me to call, there’s one other catch. Feel like suiting up and coming along as my backup?”

  
It only took a second. “Of course, it would be an honor.”

  
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Bring Tucker and meet me by the locker rooms, I’ll get you caught up on details.”

  
“I’ll text Tucker, he went to the store to buy Chloe a gift, he’ll make it in time though.”

  
Carolina have a soft chuckle. “You know, that’s the main reason we need Tucker to come along. He’s been a pain in my ass for years, but he’s amazing with kids. This way we don’t scare the kid more than she already is. I’ll see ya.”

  
It really sunk in, Tucker really wasn’t the same person any more. He had been a lazy, smart mouthed, slacker when Wash joined up with Blue Team.

That all totally changed, Wash wasn’t even aware of when it happened. He hadn’t thought it was possible.

  
What a terrible partner I’m turning out to be. I’m putting him in the position to pick the boyfriend over his own kid. I feel horrible.

  
He sent out a text message, it was faster that way. “Want to go with me and Carolina to pick up your kid?”

  
Right away he answered. “Hell yeah.”

  
That was the reaction Wash had expected. “Finish up your shopping. Meet us up at the locker rooms and suit up.”

  
“I’m on my way.”

  
This was it. Wash wanted this to happen and was terrified of it happening both at the same time.  
Was he justified in not letting Tucker keep his daughter, or was he holding him back?

  
He finished snapping on the last of his armor when Tucker came running in, out of breath and carrying a pink stuffed teddy bear.

He held it up like a trophy. “I found it.”

  
Wash laughed. “Good job, now hurry up, or we’re leaving you.”

  
He met up with Carolina. “Tucker’s coming, I told him to hurry up, so you know how well he never listens.”

  
“Never fear, I’m here. Kind of.” He had most of the armor strapped on, but he was trying to pull on his boots and walk at the same time. He barely made it without falling on his face.

  
Carolina was disappointed he didn’t. “Nice to see you made there hotshot.” She noticed the teddy bear in his hand. “Aww, are you taking your friend to help you in battle?”

  
“Carolina, a pleasure as always.” He acted like he was going to kiss her hand. She jerked away from him. He waved the bear in front of her face. “Don’t get jealous now, just because you don’t have a pink bear.”

  
She roughly pushed him away. “Don’t worry, I won’t.”

  
“Both of you knock it off. We have serious business here, and we don’t know what we’re going to find.”

  
“Yes sir, Wash.” Now that meeting his daughter was a guarantee, Tucker could relax and be…Tucker again.

  
If keeps this up, this is going to be some mission.  



	7. Chapter 7

 

Carolina pulled the Jeep up to the address Kimball have her. “Well boys, guess this is it. Not much to this rickety place.”

  
The entire neighborhood was a slum area. Burglaries and shootings were so common, no one looked twice anymore. It’s as if they all gave up.

  
The house itself was nothing more than a broken down shack. The paint chipped away so you couldn’t even guess what color it was. Several  
windows were broken and the porch was caving in.

  
Tucker’s heart ached for Chloe. God, he knew she existed, why didn’t he think to check up on her sooner. What kind of future could she have with a mother like hers? Already, he felt like an abusive dad.

  
Wash noticed the look on his face as they got out of the Jeep. He reached over and took his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

“It’s okay Tucker, we got this, you’re fine.”

  
He nodded confidently. “Yep, this is for Chloe.”

  
They were met at the porch by a short, balding man wearing a white medical uniform. He waved them over to him.

  
“Hello, I’m Doctor Phillips. I’m the head of pediatrics and I also double as the child welfare officer. President Kimball asked me to help with the child in danger.”

  
Wash had the best diplomacy skills. “Yes doctor, her mother is completely unfit.”

  
“I found that out firsthand. Ms. Shaffer is at home now, but when I first showed up, she had left the toddler alone. I could hear her crying inside. She showed up a few minutes before you did, and threatened me quite badly.”

  
This got Carolina’s interest. “That’s why I’m here. I have the warrant for her arrest. She won’t be harassing you or anybody else when I’m done with her.”

  
The guys got out of her way and she knocked on the door. There was a lot of yelling and protests, but Heather did open the door. She looked defeated. She allowed Carolina to handcuff her and lead her to the police vehicle brought for her.

  
She hung her head, her long, dirty blonde hair hung in her face. When she walked past Tucker, she turned to look at him.

Her eyes glared hatefully at him. Her makeup was all smudged and she had dark circles under her eyes. Her thin, bony face looked absolutely sick. She’d need a lot of help to ever recover.

  
Doctor Phillips went inside to find Chloe. Tucker walked over to the door. He so wanted to see her. The doctor tried to comfort her, but she kept crying.

Tucker couldn’t wait, he went in to help.

  
“Hey doc, I’m the kid’s father. She really doesn’t know me, but maybe I’ll have some luck with her. Give me a shot?”

  
He nodded. “Sure, go ahead.” He left Tucker alone with her.

  
He looked down and saw her hiding under the kitchen table. He gasped when he saw how beautiful she was. He got down on his knees so he was closer to her eye level.

  
Her skin was a shade lighter than his own dark skin. Her hair color was a lighter brown than his was and it was super curly. The curls were pulled back into a ponytail that lay halfway down her back.

Her pink T-shirt had a colorful unicorn and her jeans were a darker shade of pink. She even had on pink sandals.

  
Tucker was gloating to himself, he knew she liked pink. “Hi Chloe, do you know who I am?”

  
She cried harder. “No sweetie, don’t cry. I’m your daddy. I came to get you out of here, I’m here to save you.”

  
He gently reached his hand down towards her. She pulled away from him. She looked up at him with big brown eyes that looked so sad. His heart ached for her. He knew what to do.

  
He went to lay down on the floor and scooted his way to be almost beside her. He hoped this made him look less intimidating to her.

She didn’t go to him, but she didn’t run either. He had a chance.

  
“Hi there, if you won’t come to me, do you mind if I come to you?”

  
He flashed his incredible smile at her. He spent years perfecting it, and this was the one time he really needed it to come through for him.

  
She tried not to, but couldn’t help giving a little smile through her tears. Yes, he getting there!

He held out the bear. She flinched away when his arm came out. She thought he was going to hit her.

  
“Oh man, what did your mother do to you sweetie? I will never hit you, I promise. Here’s a new friend for you, he’ll protect you. Your daddy will protect you too, you don’t have to be afraid.”

  
She reached out to take it, her eyes on Tucker the entire time. She kept looking at him, judging whether she could trust him or not. She looked so tired, he wanted to scoop her up in his arms and hold her.

  
She reached her thin arms out to him. In a tiny voice, she asked, “Daddy?” He grabbed her and gently held her close.

  
“Yeah baby. I’m here, you’re safe now.” She threw her arms around his neck and wouldn’t let go.

Tucker cried tears of relief. All the worry and stress were gone. Chloe was the only thing that mattered right now.

  
“Are you Okay in there Tucker?”

  
“Yeah, we’re great. We’ll be coming out Wash.”

  
He looked down at her. “You want to get out of here?”

  
She nodded her head. She still wouldn’t let go of him. He carried her outside to show her off to Wash.

  
“Hey Chloe, you wanna meet my bestest friend Wash?”

  
Wash looked uncomfortable. He didn’t know how to react to kids.

Chloe sensed it. She looked terrified of him and buried her head against Tucker‘s shoulder.

  
“See, that’s why I shouldn’t have any kids. They hate me.”

  
“Oh get real, she’s scared of everything right now. She must have went through some bad shit here. I went to touch her and she flinched like I was going to hit her. This is definite child abuse.”

  
The doctor nodded. “I agree. I’ll do everything possible to keep Ms. Shaffer away from her. Since the child bonded to you, would you mind keeping her for the night?Bring her to my office in the morning and we’ll see about starting custody procedures.”

  
“Yes.”

  
“No.”

  
“Wash, come on, it’s one night. Do you now how hard I had to work for her to like me?”

  
“We talked about this. We agreed to wait. And she doesn’t like me.”

  
“She doesn’t know you yet. It’s only one night. Look at that face, how can I leave her all alone?”

  
Tucker gave his best pouting face. It was always his last resource and had a 100% guarantee to work against Wash.

  
He threw up his hands. “I need my head examined for this.”


	8. Chapter 8

 

“Where in the world is she going to sleep?”

  
“Well, I can fix her up in our bed. She can’t sleep on the couch. Geez, it’s only for one night, cut me a break, I’m trying here.”

  
Chloe hadn’t stopped crying the entire time, and she barely talked. She refused to let go of Tucker’s hand, and she followed him around everywhere.

  
She didn’t have many clothes or toys at home, but Tucker tried to put some kind of overnight bag together for her. He did find a picture book to read to her later. Her mother certainly never spent time with her.

  
“I don’t know Tucker, what do you make a little kid for dinner? We don’t have many groceries here.”

  
“Don’t worry, I’ll make some Mac n cheese or something. I think she’d rather go to sleep.”

  
“Good idea, the sooner this night ends, the better.”

  
Wash had been in a bad mood all evening. He didn’t waste any opportunity to glare at Tucker. Tucker pretended to not notice. He felt stuck between the two of them.

  
He took a cushion from the couch to use as a booster seat so Chloe could reach the table. “See isn’t this nice, it’s a nice family moment together, all gathered around the kitchen table.”

  
Wash shot him a look and quietly picked at his dinner. Chloe would barely eat hers. She had a few bites and tried to get off the chair.

  
“Need a hand there, sweetie?” He helped her down and took her to the living to read to her about Cinderella on the couch. She climbed up on his lap, mainly wanting to be held and not really listening to the story.

  
Wash cleaned up the dishes and started rearranging their bed so Chloe would be comfortable for the night.

  
“Think it’s time we called it a night. I’m sure she’ll feel better in the morning, we all will. You stay in the bedroom with her so she doesn’t get scared, I’ll sleep on the couch.”

  
Tucker got her settled in the middle of the bed so she wouldn’t roll out in the middle of the night. He tucked her in with her teddy bear.

  
“I’ll be right there on the floor if you need me, Okay?”

  
“‘K, night night, daddy.”

  
“Night sweetie.” He kissed her forehead, sat beside her and held her hand until she fell asleep.

  
He went out to couch to check on Wash, he was way too quiet.

“Hey, you doing okay out here?”

  
Wash laid with his back toward Tucker. “Never better.”

  
“So you’re still mad at me?”

  
He turned over to face him. “I’m not mad, I’m unhappy over the situation.”

  
“What else could I have done, you saw how bad off she is.”

  
“Exactly, she needs a lot more help than either of us are qualified to give her. Let’s just make it until the morning, and we take her back. You can have visitations with her, maybe she’ll eventually come out of her shell.”

  
He didn’t sound hopeful. Tucker needed encouragement, and he wasn’t going to get it, not tonight. “Good night Wash, I love you.”

  
“Love you too. Get some sleep.”

  
They both settled down for a not so peaceful sleep. Around 2am, the screaming began.

  
Tucker jumped, he saw Chloe sitting straight up in bed screaming at nothing in particular. He sat beside her and put his arms around.

  
“What, what happened?” She grabbed ahold of him, shaking and crying, she couldn’t stop, and she couldn’t tell him what was wrong.

  
Wash heard the commotion from the couch. His PTSD kicked in, he had a hard time processing in his brain what was happening. All he felt was panic. Within seconds he remembered, Tucker’s daughter. The panic returned. He ran into the bedroom.

  
“Is she okay?” He was too worried to be angry anymore. Tucker was now on the verge of crying. He didn’t know what to do, she wouldn’t stop crying.

  
“She screamed and then this, I have no idea why. She’s shaking like crazy.”

  
“Oh, I think I know, it sounds like a night terror. It’s sort of a nightmare, but a little different. I know how she feels. I got them all the time as a kid, mostly because of my father.”

  
He sat on Chloe’s other side. He got her attention, for the first time she wasn’t afraid of him.

“Honey, my dad was just as mean to me as your mom is to you. I know about these nightmares, it’s not your fault, you didn’t do anything wrong. You’re here with us now, you’re safe.”

  
She didn’t stop crying, but she did let Wash hold her. “Want me to see if I can calm her down for you?”

  
Tucker nodded, he was relieved. She had him scared, his eyes were still wide with fear.Wash picked her up and walked around the house with her.

  
He talked to her in a calm soothing voice. “Shh, I know, I know. It’s okay, you’re okay.” They did quite a few laps together. She quieted down a lot.

  
When Wash walked her back to the bedroom was almost asleep. He looked and saw Tucker passed out on the bed. Guess parenthood wore him out.

  
“Uh-oh, look at your poor dad, you wore him out girlie.” She looked adoringly up at Wash’s face, and he melted.

  
“Hi.” She said so shyly to him.

  
“Hi.” He didn’t want to give in, he couldn’t, but here he was. “What are we going to do with you kiddo?”

  
She gave him a big smile. Her whole face lit up. It looked so much like Tucker’s smile . She was his total clone, Wash couldn’t believe it.

  
How could you love someone that you just met? He didn’t understand it. He settled into bed with her and put her beside Tucker. She cuddled up against both of them. She kept her hand on Wash’s hand. He gave it a little squeeze and started dozing off.

  
It was morning before Tucker woke up. It took him a second to remember Chloe. He looked beside him.

He was happy to see Wash gave in. Chloe was lying on his chest with her head on his shoulder peacefully sleeping.

  
Tucker thought Wash was asleep, but when he felt Tucker’s eyes on him, he looked over. The amused look he got had ‘I told you so’ all over it.

  
Tucker whispered so he wouldn’t wake Chloe. “Morning Agent Washington. She’s only here for the night huh?”

  
“Not a word out of you, I really hate you right now.”

He said it with a big, peaceful smile on his face. He never felt this calm…ever. He was careful not to move and disturb Chloe. He was going to be awfully stiff when he could move.

  
Great, how do I get myself into these things?   
  



	9. Chapter 9

  
“Well fellows, we have some good news and some bad news.” Kimball’s voice sounded grave.

  
Tucker’s heart dropped. “Oh god, I don’t know, start with the bad news.”

  
“You’re sure you want it?”

He nodded.

“Heather never signed the adoption papers, she is still Chloe’s legal guardian.”

  
“No way, she abused her, you really wanna give her back?”

  
“I don’t want to, legally I have to. Her pimp posted her bail, she’s out of jail, for now, and she wants her kid back. When she has her hearing in a few weeks, since she’s obviously guilty, then she will lose custody.”

  
Wash was pissed. “Chloe can’t go back to that monster for a few weeks. After all Heather’s been through, how do you know she won’t kill Chloe when she gets her?”

  
“I don’t know Wash, I can only hope. It’s not a perfect system.”

  
“Yeah, no shit it isn’t. I’m the father, I have some say in this.”

  
“Technically, you don’t. She still has full custody. And I don’t want to break it to you, but your odds of being able to adopt the child is slim to none.”

  
Tucker’s heart almost stopped beating. “Why, why can’t I keep my kid? I love her.”

  
Wash put his arm around him. “We both love her. Damnit, why can’t that count for something? Why can’t Tucker adopt her?”

  
“His past, he had been arrested once. He lost custody of his alien child, he has not had perfect conduct since being in the army, he is a single male… I can go on and on with reasons why he would be denied.”

  
“What if I adopted her?”

  
Kimball hated to tell him the truth. “It may not be much easier for you. After the whole incident with Epsilon, you were labeled insane. That doesn’t look good on the adoption application.”

  
“This is all crazy, what can we do to keep Chloe from her mother?”

  
“She needs to sign away her rights. If she does, I will make a special exception that you can adopt the child, Wash. At least this way, she’s still with Tucker.”

  
It wasn’t encouraging. “All right, thank you anyway Vanessa.”

  
“Wash, she’ll never sign those papers. She wanted $200, maybe if I gave it to her, she would sign.”  
“That’s like giving into a terrorist.”

  
“You’re as attached to her as I am. You got any better ideas?”

  
“No, I don’t know what to do. I wish I didn’t get attached. Let’s go back to Phillips’ office and plan on saying goodbye to Chloe. Maybe he’ll have something we can work on.”

  
They could hear Chloe’s screaming before they got in the office.

  
“Shit, I thought she was getting better around people.”

  
They got there just in time to see Heather pulling Chloe roughly by her arm. The doctor tried to calm both of them, but he was useless. Tucker wanted to step in.

  
“No, be easier with her. You don’t have to drag her.”

  
“She thought it was funny to pull a temper tantrum, I’m only making her behave.” When Chloe saw Tucker, she tried to go to him. Heather pulled her back harder. Chloe winced.

  
“You’re hurting her. Sign the papers and let me take her. It’s obvious you don’t want her.”

  
“Don’t be ridiculous, my child is all I have. I’ll never give her up.”

The lie showed through her eyes. She would say the words the doctor wanted to hear. Her evil grin mocked Tucker’s pain.

  
Wash looked in desperation at Phillips. “You can’t tell me there is nothing you can do?”

  
“She is still the legal guardian. Until she goes on trial, she’s innocent until proven guilty. Neither one of you can touch her.”

  
“Wonderful. Tucker, keep calm, we have to be patience.”

  
He was already trailing Heather as she dragged Chloe outside.

“What would it take for you to sign the papers. In your phone call, you said $200, I’ll give it to you.”

  
She laughed at him. “Now it’s $2000. You give me that, the brat’s all yours. I was nothing but a toy to you. You used me that night and then didn’t care. I would’ve given anything to be your girlfriend, and you used me. Now you want this?” She held up Chloe’s arm. “I don’t think so.”

  
Tucker felt horrible. “I didn’t mean it like that. I didn’t know what I was doing. You didn’t either.”

  
“It’s too late to be sorry.” She gritted her teeth. “Chloe, come on! Quit dragging your feet.”

  
She looked back at Tucker. “Daddy, no.”

  
His heart was breaking. “Don’t worry, sweetie, I’ll get you back, I promise. I love you Chloe.”

  
Wash came up beside him. He looked out of ideas.

  
Tucker’s tears flowed as he held Wash’s hand. “Shit, now what do I do? I don’t even have the $2000 to pay her. Chloe’s gonna think I abandoned her. Now what?”

  
“I don’t know, Tucker, I don’t know anything anymore. Wait for the hearings? At least I can adopt her for you.”

  
“But that’s like two whole weeks. She’s miserable with Heather.”

  
“I’m sorry, all we can do is wait.”

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

 

“Carolina, I have a mission for you.”

  
“Sure Kimball, Anything you want.”

  
“This is for Wash and Tucker. I don’t want to get their hopes up again, but I think I can help them get their daughter back.”

  
“Good, that little kid deserves better than that psycho.”

  
“See if she’ll cut a deal, I’ll give her a reduced sentence and see if she’ll sign the adoption papers at the same time. Get creative with it.”

  
Carolina smiled. “Absolutely, I’m on the case.”

  
She headed down to the nightclub. Heather wasn’t hard to find. She had a large group of men gathered around her.

‘Working’ when she was supposed to be on probation, how typical. Carolina shooed the guys away.

  
“Hello Heather, remember me?”

  
Heather looked over and turned pale. It was safe to say she remembered Carolina. She tried to act all tough about it.

  
“What to you want? I posted bail, you can’t do anything to me.” Her voice was shaky. She hoped Carolina wouldn’t do anything to her.

  
“Oh no, I’m not going to hurt you, think of me as new best friend. I will be down everyday with you, watching and recording everything you do until your trial, and use it against you. Add in the fact that your daughter is home without a babysitter, that won’t sit too well with the courts.”

  
“All right, what do you want?”

  
“I’ll make a deal with you. Rat out your drug supplier and agree to rehab and I can tell President Kimball how well you behaved.”

  
“That’s all you want?”

  
“That and sign the adoption papers and give your daughter a better life. You do all this, you’ll a lighter sentence. If you refuse, I can’t be held responsible for what happens to you.” She had an evil grin.

  
Heather looked defeated. “Fine, I got the stupid papers at home for Chloe. Come with me and I’ll sign them for you.”

  
“Good girl. You’re smarter than you look.”

  
At the house, Heather searched for where she stashed the adoption papers, while Carolina looked for Chloe.

Kids were not her specialty, but she really felt for this little girl. She hoped she wouldn’t be afraid of her, most people were.

  
Chloe was hiding in her room. Heather kept her locked in when she was working and couldn’t get a sitter. She was playing with the teddy bear Tucker gave her. Other than that, she didn’t have many toys.

  
Carolina vowed when Wash adopted Chloe, Aunt Carolina was going to bring her lots of toys. She deserved it. Chloe tried to cower in the corner when Carolina entered.

  
She took off the aqua helmet and stooped down in front of her.

“Don’t be scared, I was sent to get you out of here. Do you want to go see your dad?”

  
She was still afraid ,but did get closer to her. She nodded her head, she was too afraid to talk. Carolina smiled softly at her.

  
“Good, want to help me pack up your stuff, and we can get out of here?”

  
Again she nodded. She tried so hard to help Carolina put what little bit of clothes she had into a suitcase. She was all proud of herself for helping. Carolina had to chuckle at it. She taught Chloe how to give a high five.

  
“Good job, honey. You listen better than my soldiers do. Don’t forget your bear, you all set?”

  
“Yes.”

  
“Okay, let’s go.” She willingly followed.

  
Out in the living room, Heather had the papers ready. Carolina went to grab them, but Chloe started whimpering and backing away when she got near her mom. Carolina took her hand.

  
“It’s okay honey, she won’t hurt you, not while I’m here.” Chloe looked relieved and followed out the door to her new life.

  
Carolina rang Wash and Tucker’s doorbell. Tucker answered, still looking heartbroken, he barely looked up.

  
“Congratulations, it’s a girl.”

  
“No way, how’d you do that? I can’t believe she mine. Come here sweetie!”

  
“Hi daddy.” She ran into his arms. He picked her up and hugged her.

  
“Hi kiddo, welcome home.” Wash came over to join in their hug. He turned to Carolina. “How’d you get her to sign?”

  
“It was easy, I convinced her the errors of her ways; and the fact if she ratted out the supplier, she got a lighter sentence.”

  
“So for that, she signed over Chloe?”

  
“That was a little more sneaky. She was guaranteed the lighter sentence anyway, but I told her that signing the papers were part of the deal. Even though it wasn’t. She was too stupid to know the difference.”

  
Tucker laughed. “I’m so glad you’re on our side, I know how hard you can punch someone in the jaw.”

  
“And yet, you never leave me alone.”

  
“Nah, that’s not really my style.”

  
Wash was trying to ignore them. “So she’s really ours?”

  
“Once you sign the adoption papers. Kimball will be waiting for you, then it’s all legal.”

  
“You could have gotten in trouble over this, why would you go through all this trouble for us?”

  
“You’re the best friend I’ve ever had. And that,” she looked at Tucker, “I’ve learned to tolerate. But I did it for Chloe, she deserves than that mother, she deserves you morons. You’ll treat her like a princess, which is what she deserves.”

  
“Thank god we got her back, this place was too quiet with out her.”

  
“Well come on Tucker, I’ll grab the papers, you grab the kid. We got to get this finalized before something else happens.”

  
Tucker made it to the door, with Chloe holding his hand. She reached up to Wash with her other hand so he could hold it.

  
The three of them went together as a family to see Kimball.

  
  
  
  
  
  



	11. Chapter 11

 

“Tucker, where in the world is she going to sleep? She’s here permanently, she needs a room.”

  
“No problem, we’ll fix up the spare bedroom.”

  
“That was my writing room.”

  
“Dude, you haven’t written anything in over a year. I think it’s safe to use.”

  
“Fine, take away my space.” He said it with a big, dorky smile on his face. He wanted to see how far Tucker would go with it.

  
“Sure, have your daughter sleep in the closet, that’s no problem.” He was chuckling over it.

  
“You don’t mind, do you Chloe?”

  
“No!” She was laughing along with them.

  
“Okay I give in, you can have the room. What time are you guys going shopping for all her junk?”

  
“Donut will be here any minute.”

  
“Why is he going?”

  
“Who knows more about shopping? He’s taking Chloe to get some clothes while I get the furniture for her room.”

  
“I’ll stay here and clear out my writing room. And do not spend a fortune.”

  
“Yes Dad, you’re still so bossy.”

  
He was actually glad when they left.

In no time, they were back with a ton of bags.

  
“Did you guys but out the whole store? You’re getting so spoiled there kiddo.”

  
Chloe proudly carried in a few bags. “Look at my clothes. And daddy bought me a princess doll.”

  
“Wow, that’s great.”

  
“I know Wash, it was kinda expensive, but it really made her happy.”

  
Wash nodded. “I would have done the same thing.you have a play date later with a new friend. We have to get ready soon.”

  
Tucker brought in the rest of the bags. “What play date?”

  
“I promised Simmons I would bring Chloe by to meet their son. She’s a little older than little Dexter but they should get along.”

  
“Oh god, that sounds so lame. What’s next the mini van and soccer practice?”

  
“Quit whining, this is a big moment for your daughter. You’re going to be there for her or else. Pick out one of her new outfits to wear.”

  
It got awfully until Tucker made his announcement. “All rightee, her majesty is ready now.” Tucker proudly unveiled one of Chloe’s new outfits.

It was a dark pink dress with purple trim. She wore pink leggings and white sandals.

  
“Tucker, what is she wearing?”

  
“Her new outfit we got her. She picked it out.”

  
“She can’t wear that to play in. You got her a lot of different outfits, pick something else.”

  
“How come?”

  
“It’s a play date not the queen’s ball. Chloe, you’re going to meet a new friend at the playground. How about you change into a better outfit.”

  
“No, I want to be a princess.”

  
“You can be a princess some other time. Here’s a nice shirt and pants. You can’t wear the dress.”

  
“No, I want the dress.” She pushed the other outfit away. “That’s not pink.”

  
That stubborn, pouty look was just like Tucker’s. Oh lord, he was stuck with two of them. Tucker was no help, he was trying not to laugh.

How the hell did you reason with a two year old? He dug through her new dresser drawers.

  
“Okay, how about this? The shirt is pink, wear it with these jeans, then when you get dirty it can be washed. Please?”

  
She thought it over. “Ok.”

  
Whew, Wash was relieved. He wasn’t ready to discipline her yet.

The three of them met up with Grif and Simmons and their son on the playground.

There weren’t a lot of kids on Chorus, so they were the only ones there.

  
Grif looked as thrilled as Tucker to be there. Simmons had the camera, snapping all kinds of pictures of his son’s first play date. It was a big moment for him.

  
He was agitating Grif. “Oh my god, could you be more of a loser?”

  
“Shut up and have fun. This is for your son damnit.”

  
When little Dex saw Tucker, he went to run to him. Tucker was his favorite babysitter. Then he saw Chloe.

He stopped in his tracks. His face turned bright red and he grabbed ahold of Simmons’ leg. He couldn’t even look at her.

  
Simmons understood. “Yeah, I know buddy, I’m the same way with girls.”

  
“Oh no, I gotta give him some lessons or he’s doomed to be a nerd like you know who.”

  
Tucker fixed it. “Hey little dude, come here.” He held out his hand. Dex couldn’t resist but go with him.

  
He had Dex on one arm and Chloe on the other. He was determined for them to be friends.

  
Simmons was all happy, he even persuaded Grif to join them. “She’s an adorable kid, you guys are lucky.”

  
“Yeah, I didn’t think I wanted her, but she grew on me. At least our kids can grow up together, they don’t have to be so lonely.”

  
“That’s what I was afraid of for Dex. I was thinking about having a second kid, just so he doesn’t grow up an only child.”

  
“Are you going to?”

  
“I don’t know. Grif would say no. He didn’t want any kids at all, but he got used to it.”

  
All of a sudden, the crying started. Wash and Simmons went running over. Both kids were fighting over the same red ball. Chloe was screaming and acting like Dex pushed her.

  
Simmons was embarrassed. “Dexter, you don’t push a girl. That’s not like you!”

  
Tucker interfered. “No, don’t you yell at him. I caught it out of the corner of my eye. Chloe pushed him and acted like he did it.”

  
He reached down to pick Dex, who was still crying. Chloe didn’t like that.

“Chloe Rae Tucker, that’s not how you act. You don’t push anyone.” He was trying to be firm but still gentle with her. She had been through a lot. She kept crying and looked heartbroken.

  
Wash had to step in. He knelt down in front of her and looked her in the eyes. “Your dad’s right, you don’t act like that. Now can you tell Dex you’re sorry and play nicely with him?”

  
She nodded through her tears. She apologized and they both shared the ball. They got along for the rest of their playtime.

  
“Sorry about that Simmons.”

  
“Don’t worry about it, Dex is resilient. You should see how wild he and Grif play. It won’t hurt him.”

  
When they got home with Chloe, she was exhausted. Wash settled her in her own bed, tucked her in and kissed her goodnight.

  
“I love you Daddy.” That was the first time she called him that.

  
“I love you too kiddo. See you in the morning.”

  
He stood in the doorway for a minute, just watching her. He went out to the kitchen where Tucker was trying to figure out how to make spaghetti. He stood watching him too.

This was what it was like to have a family. Why hadn’t he done that sooner?

  
He went to put his arms around Tucker and didn’t want to let go. This was the one mission Agent Washington would never let go of.  



End file.
